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Thanos Test Footage Offers an Early Look at Infinity War's Villain

The test footage of Josh Brolin's Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War is released online. Marvel Studios' 10th-anniversary offering may be dubbed the beginning of the culmination of everything that the franchise has tread in its first decade, but at its core, the movie was Thanos' origin story. While the super villain may have been teased as early as 2011's Thor, with his on-screen debut the next year in The Avengers' post-credits scene, it wasn't until Avengers 3 that the character was formally introduced into the MCU.

Touted as one of the best MCU villains thus far, Thanos arrived with unbreakable determination to balance the universe by wiping out half of life in the universe. Wielding the power of all six Infinity Stones, the super villain fulfilled what he believed was his life's purpose (despite the Avengers and their allies putting up a gallant fight), resulting into the disintegration of the countless life forms in the universe, including some of Marvel's most beloved heroes.

Marvel Studios (via MCU Tweets) has released the test footage of Brolin as Thanos in Infinity War. The clip was shown to the company's executives for their approval, and it's safe to say that they were happy with the turn-out. Fans, on the other hand, can't get over the fact that the mock dialog the actor in the footage foreshadowed the Mad Titan's reunion with Loki in the film. Watch the video below:

There's barely any difference between what fans saw on the final cut of Infinity War and the test footage with regard to the VFX work on Thanos, which is pretty impressive considering that early in development, the filmmakers behind the project were already able to nail the CGI on the character. It's no secret that there was a lot riding on delivering the super villain considering that the whole film hinged on him. The fact that he had to be fully digitally rendered made the work a lot trickier. Fortunately, directors Joe and Anthony Russo and their talented artists pulled it off.

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As for Brolin's acting, it's noticeable how his movements and line-delivering in the test-footage were still a bit animated compared to his performance in the movie. The actor was very forthcoming about being initially intimidated about the whole process of portraying a character unconventionally, but thanks to some words of encouragement from his co-star Mark Ruffalo, who has been doing the whole thing since he debuted as Bruce Banner aka. The Hulk in The Avengers, he eventually decided to take on the project. With directing guidelines from the Russo brothers, Brolin's performance as the Mad Titan was generally hailed.

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Fans will reunite with Thanos in next year's Avengers 4 as Earth's Mightiest Heroes alongside Ant-Man and Captain Marvel attempt to take down the villain once and for all. It's unclear whether or not there's more to the Mad Titan's story past Phase 3, but considering how well-received the character is based on people's reaction to him in Avengers: Infinity War, it's not outside the realm of possibility that Marvel Studios try to keep him around.